Spoiler Warning
Originally released in 1974 and re-released in July 2012,
Jaws is the "granddaddy" of all shark related movies and books to
this day. It should be noted that Jaws
was inspired by real shark attacks which happened in 1916 across the coast of New
Jersey and up Matawan Creek which is
now known as "the Summer of the Shark".
Everyone has seen the film from 1975 directed by Steven
Spielberg which went to not just create the "summer blockbuster" but
also terrify audiences by tapping into one of our most primal fears where we
are out of our element and completely at the mercy of something that we don't even
see approaching.
But with the huge success of the film, the novel that
inspired it is often forgotten and not in the public consciousness as a result
despite being a best seller for some 44 weeks and the subsequent paperback
version selling millions of copies in the following year.
The story begins with a very detailed description of the
shark itself and its sensory array as it approaches the small community of
Amity Island as two teenagers wander onto the beach so as one passes out, the
other Christie Watkins goes for a skinny dip and is subsequently attacked and
killed by the shark.
The next morning sees the introduction of our main character
Chief Martin Brody who is called to investigate Christie 's
"disappearance" and file a report to which he writes down the cause
of death as a shark attack to which Brody wants the beaches closed as a
precaution against more possible attacks however this is overruled by the Major
Larry Vaughan and the Town Selectmen. During this time, the population of Amity
Island is preparing for its summer visitors and The 4th of July celebration
which creates the island's profit and business that sustains them through the
winter months.
After another attack on a young boy Alex Kitner and an old
man, panic ensues across Amity and sparks a "manhunt" for the shark
responsible seeing both residents of Amity and people from the mainland taking
part and some wanting to get a glimpse of the "killer shark".
While the majority of the movie follows the novel, there are
quite a few differences between them.
The first change is the overall focus of the story. Whereas in the movie the shark is the focus of the narrative, In the novel the characters are in the spotlight and get much more in the way of characterization and development.
The first change is the overall focus of the story. Whereas in the movie the shark is the focus of the narrative, In the novel the characters are in the spotlight and get much more in the way of characterization and development.
One example of this comes from Brody himself.
While in the movie, Brody comes across as your typical Average
Joe/family man with a supportive marriage, however in the book Brody's
personality is more or less the complete opposite to the depiction seen in the
movie. Brody from my perspective comes off as a guy who is frustrated, somewhat
bitter and overall tired with his day to day life and the problems that arise
in the community of Amity.
This characterization of Brody becomes most obvious during his
interactions with his wife Ellen who interestingly also has some much needed
exposition for her character where we the readers learn that she came from a
well-off family and other parts of her life before meeting Brody and when Ellen
becomes the focus for one of the book's underlining subplots where she has an
affair with Matt Hooper who as it turns out is the younger brother of the guy who
she used to date. It is here where the story's setup takes on the dynamics of
what I can only describe as a bad soap opera. Later on in the text there’s a
cringe-inducing passage describing Ellen’s marital transgression that involves
her rape ‘fantasies’.
That said however, the book has a few other melodramatic
narrative set-pieces such as the ‘heated’ clichéd exchanges between Brody and the
Town Selectmen and there are other set-pieces in the book which are so
stilted and wooden that they leave the reader wondering why an editor wasn’t a
little more aggressive in limiting the overall page count.
For example, there’s a dinner get together that becomes
interminable in length whose only function it seems is to list the amount of
alcohol Brody can consume in about an hour and gives a recounting of the recipe
for ‘Butterfly’ lamb.
However I do have a couple of things to nick pick as well as
a few praises to address:
Character Focus:
As I said earlier in
this review, the characters are at the forefront of the story over the
"killer" shark which is good because they get more fleshed out. This
includes characters who in the film only got brief appearances most notability
the journalist Harry Meadows who here serves as the "damage control"
by hushing up about the shark's attacks at first and later uncovers the secret
behind Mayor Larry Vaughn and his " silent partners" which turns out
to be the Mafia who are putting pressure on Vaughn to keep the beaches open
despite the attacks and against Vaughn's better judgement as they have invested
in Amity's real estate and want to keep the values sky high.
Other characters who got changes include Matt Hooper who is a
snotty, well to do, Ivy League egomaniac and generally unlikeable, Quint got an
added level of conflict between himself
and Brody following the discovery of what Quint uses as bait to attract the
shark which turns out to be unborn dolphin foetuses. Hendricks, Brody's deputy
is also much more active in the book's story even at one point trying to save an
old man from the shark following the fatal attack on Alex Kitner.
Sub-Plot
Stupidity:
While I found the Mayor Vaughn and the Mafia addition an
interesting aspect in the novel, the others not so much. The problem is shared
between them is that the majority is not engaging like with the Ellen having
the affair with Hooper for the most part which strangely I'll admit felt was
kind of justified following Brody's treatment of her throughout most of the
book. I get that the focus on Ellen is to give the story more of an edge which
makes it somewhat reminiscent of something Ira Levin (Stepford Wives) may have
written, or a rather less literate J.G Ballard - the bored housewife, ageing,
having affairs, feeling unloved etc.
Themes:
Interestingly there’s a strong element of fear throughout
the novel; Brody’s fear of his own fading virility, Ellen’s fear that she may
have missed out on chances in her life to be happy, but curiously there’s
very little fearful tension whenever it comes to the shark appearing and
this again is due in part to a lack of empathy on my part with Benchley's stiff
characters in all respects.
It should also be noted that there’s a disturbing
undercurrent of misogyny here along with racist and homophobic undertones that
perhaps are in keeping with the spirit of the times in the early Seventies but
it is worryingly significant throughout.
The Ending:
The ending in the book to me felt very abrupt and
anticlimactic as the shark stops within inches of attacking Brody abroad the
sinking Orca after succumbing to its wounds inflicted earlier by Quint with
harpoons who coincidentally gets his leg
wrapped by a rope on one of the harpoons and is dragged under by the shark and
drowns.
Overall Jaws the novel was admittedly a surprising light read where I'll admit it is
difficult to re-read it without the movie popping into your head which is
damaging because it further highlights the book's shortcomings and inherent
problems and this provides an unfair contrast and is unfortunate that the core
text of the story is done to such a delineated degree that you as the reader
grow not to care for Benchley's characters to the extent where I wanted the
shark to somehow eat each of them in turn. This aside, however, Jaws is a novel
that plays to the obvious and compares extremely poorly with the film. The idea
is great but Benchley's execution something to be desired.